BHS Welfare urges horse owners to take precautions to help prevent Laminitis The BHS Welfare Department has called on all horse owners to help in the fight against Laminitis. Laminitis is a serious and very painful condition that can affect any type of horse, pony or donkey at any time and is particularly common at this time of year when spring grass is coming through. Helen Owens, the BHS's Welfare Senior Executive, said: "Preventing Laminitis is always better than trying manage it. Overweight animals are thought to be one of the groups at highest risk of developing Laminitis. Therefore a management regime which includes diet and weight control is essential." Spring grass is often high in nutrients and grows rapidly. Therefore grazing may need to be restricted at this time. It is difficult for riders to estimate the volume of grass their horses ingest and, quite often, it is more than required which may result in bloating and weight problems. This in turn could increase the risk of the onset of Laminitis. Prompt action may help reduce the severity of this painful condition. If riders suspect their horse, pony or donkey may be suffering with Laminitis, they should contact their veterinary surgeon immediately. For a free advisory leaflet about the Prevention and Management of Laminitis, please send an SAE to the BHS Welfare Department or visit the BHS Website: www.bhs.org.uk <http://www.bhs.org.uk>. For further information contact the BHS Welfare Department on 01926 707839 or email mailto:welfare@bhs.org.uk
What can you do to prevent it. If only preventing laminitis was simply a question of keeping fat ponies away from rich grass, but every year horses and ponies of every breed and discipline contract this excessively painful illness. The Laminitis Trust, is a charity founded by Robert Eustace, FRCVS, director of The Laminitis Clinic in Wiltshire. Click their logo on the left to visit their website.

In its mildest form laminitis presents as a mild lameness, a reluctance to move, or the animal lying down to try and get some relief from its painful feet. Sometimes the horse will be sweating, groaning and blowing giving rise to the misdiagnosis of colic. After repeated attacks, however, the attachment between the pedal bone (also known as coffin bone) and hoof capsule starts to fail. This is described as foundering. The most severe form of founder is where the pedal bone becomes loose within the hoof and is described as a “sinker” – the majority of cases of which will die without rapid and expert treatment.

Robert Eustace says: “We recognise that laminitis can be brought on by a variety of factors, including stress. Trauma to the feet caused by excessive work on hard surfaces can cause laminitis particularly in show jumpers and endurance horses. But it is a fact that as many as 80% of laminitis cases could be avoided by sensible feeding and management. Particularly worrying is the unwelcome practice of feeding high calorie diets to horses and ponies in order to achieve so-called ‘show-ring condition’. Leading show judge and producer Robert Oliver joins me in saying that horses and ponies should be judged for fitness, not fatness.”

Just one aspect of the work of The Laminitis Trust has been to pioneer an approval mark for horse feeds to guide owners towards those feed products which are safer to use both to prevent laminitis and during the treatment period. To carry the approval mark, feeds have to be submitted for scrutiny by The Laminitis Trust’s Scientific Committee. Dengie, Spillers and Dodson & Horrell are manufacturing a selection of feeds which carry the Laminitis Trust Approval Mark and produce helpful fact sheets and recommended diets.

Robert Eustace concludes: “Laminitis is not a condition to be taken lightly. I have witnessed at first hand the misery it can cause. Further vital research is essential, but until a cure is found, owners have the solution in their own hands. Sensible feeding and management are, in the majority of cases, the key to ending the unnecessary pain and suffering caused by laminitis.”

Horse and Hound give the following advice at: http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/care/article.php?aid=47863

The latest research into laminitis was presented at a conference focussing on the condition organised by the British Equine Veterinary Association recently

The most interesting finding presented at the recent BEVA laminitis conference was the fact that horses can develop insulin insensitivity, which is linked to obesity and laminitis.

Insulin is produced in response to glucose entering the blood after digestion, therefore a rush of glucose means an increase in insulin.

More insulin is needed to remove the glucose from the blood in obese animals and it is thought that high volumes of circulating insulin may affect the blood supply to the foot. Obese animals also bear increased weight on each hoof, resulting in higher than normal levels of concussion, which plays a role in laminitis.

Huge volumes of all types of sugars are readily consumed in fast-growing, lush grass, which can lead to sugar overflowing into the hind gut. Fructan sugars are believed to pose the greatest risk because they aren't broken down in the small intestine.

Researchers at the Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER), Aberystwyth, have shown that some grasses have higher fructan levels, and that more fructan is produced in daylight hours.

Finally, new research is looking at the idea that a "tightening" of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction) in the hoof may precipitate the onset of a bout of laminitis.

Homocysteine, made during the metabolism of methionine in the body, has been linked in humans to vasoconstriction, so large doses of methionine, which are found when an excess level of lush grass is eaten, may also be playing a role in this complicated condition.

Avoiding laminitis

• The key message is to keep away from high-risk feedstuffs and feeding situations, namely high intakes of high-starch diets and lush grazing. This avoids starch overload and high doses of fructan and methionine

• Susceptible animals should be fed fibre-rich, low-starch and low-sugar diets. These are now available in all classes of feed from chops, chaff and low-energy cubes and mixes to high-energy feeds

• Traditional meadow-type horse pasture is likely to be lower in fructan than reseeded grassland, due to the species of grass present

• If it is impossible to restrict time at grass during high risk periods for laminitics, make sure that the grass in the paddock is short and tightly grazed. This will reduce the amount consumed and the fructans in it, as short, leafy grass is low-fructan material

Do supplements help Laminitis? Read this!:

http://www.laminitis.org/feed%20supplements.html

Click to read another interesting article regarding laminitis: http://www.cumberland-news.co.uk/horse/viewarticle.aspx?id=258105&imageindex=1